Euromedim 2006 :1st European Conference on Molecular Imaging Technology

Image optimization and dose evaluation in coronary stenosis using multi slices computed tomography

9 May 2006, 14:00

1h

Palais du Pharo, Marseille

poster • System performance seen by the users, dose reduction Poster Session :Simulation, Modeling, Reconstruction

Speaker

Mr Yung-Hui Huang (National Yang-Ming University)

Description

Cardiovascular diseases are the most common incidence for premature death in developed countries. A major fraction is attributable to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease which may result in sudden cardiac failure. A reduction of mortality caused by myocardial infarction may be achieved if coronary atherosclerosis can be detected and treated at an early stage before symptoms occur. Therefore there is need for an effective tool that allows identification of patients at increased risk for future cardiac events. The current multi-detector CT has been widely used for detection and quantification of coronary calcifications as a sign of coronary atherosclerosis. The aim of this study is to optimize the diagnostic values and radiation exposure in coronary artery calcium screening exam using multi-slice CT (MSCT) with different image reconstruction algorithms. The phantom study is underwent routine MSCT coronary artery calcium scoring with retrospective ECG gated data acquisition. The radiation exposure for all protocols is evaluated by using computed tomography dose index (CTDI) phantom measurements. We found an optimal scanning protocol minimizing patient radiation exposure significantly to the MSCT coronary artery calcium screenings and still preserve its diagnostic accuracy compared with existing protocols by properly adjusting the CT scanning parameters and optimizing image processing techniques. These changes make the MSCT have more operation flexibility and provide more diagnostic values in current practice.